Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

dropping to his knees. ‘Oh my God,’ he whispered. ‘Oh my God.’
    The seconds ticked as they stared at the wall, at the words that had been painted there with a wide brush. In blood.
    Joseph read them aloud, his voice thick and hoarse. They were familiar. He’d heard them quoted recently, by Daphne. ‘ “Now you know how it feels. ” ’
    So much blood . It was pooled on the floor, already congealing. A wide streak ran to the door that led to the garage, like someone had been dragged through the blood.
    A pile of clothing had been left in the pooled blood on the floor. Joseph crouched beside it, dreading what he’d find. Brodie snapped photos, handing him a metal rod which he used to lift each item so that she could photograph them one by one.
    On top was a striped rugby shirt that had absorbed the blood unevenly. The bottom was soaked, consistent with how it had folded on itself in the pile. The collar was saturated, still glossy and wet even though it hadn’t touched the pool of blood. Still untouched by the blood was the name of Ford’s university, stitched across the back.
    ‘Oh God,’ he whispered, his stomach turning over. He thought of Isaac Zacharias, lying in that alley, his throat slit wide open. Unlike the alley, the wall in front of them was covered in spatter. ‘His throat must have been slit. And he was alive at the time.’
    Brodie cleared her throat roughly. ‘It appears so. It also appears he put up a fight.’ She pointed to the collar, where dozens of short blond hairs lay at haphazard angles.
    ‘His hair was yanked out during the struggle,’ she said, then removed a wallet from the back pocket of the jeans that were next in the pile. When she opened it, Ford’s face stared out at them from his driver’s license.
    Any hope Joseph still clung to disappeared like mist.
    Brodie dropped the wallet into an evidence bag and using a pair of tongs, lifted the jeans. At the bottom of the pile, covered in blood, was a gold watch. Carefully she picked it up, held it to the light. ‘It’s a Rolex. The back says “Elkhart”.’
    Joseph choked back the bile that had risen to burn his throat.
    We’re too late .

Chapter Eleven
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, December 3, 7.15 P.M.
    P ennsylvania State Trooper Jim Gargano lived in a two-story house at the end of a dead-end road. Lights were on in the living room and two upstairs bedrooms.
    ‘This is it,’ Clay said.
    Alec stopped the car on the curb. ‘No trooper car in the driveway.’
    ‘Trooper Gargano was banned from using a take-home car again,’ Clay said. He re-read the email Alyssa had sent on the investigation. ‘He reported the theft of his weapons as soon as he discovered they were missing. The department found him in violation of policy. He insisted he’d locked his gun safe, but the department could find no reason that the safe would have malfunctioned.’
    ‘So he was screwed.’
    ‘Basically. The thief took the tasers, his service weapon, and a bunch of antiques, then found the keys to the cruiser and drove off in it with everything he’d stolen plus Gargano’s uniforms and the SWAT uniforms that were in the trunk of the car. He filed a claim with his insurance and got a settlement, which the department found suspicious. They never actually accused him of insurance fraud, but that’s how they treated it. He was suspended for two weeks without pay, took a permanent pay cut, lost his rank.’
    ‘That sucks,’ Alec said, frowning. ‘I’d have quit.’
    ‘He probably wanted to, but he’s only a year away from retirement and he wants his pension.’ He closed the email and checked his texts.
    ‘Anything new from Paige?’ Alec asked.
    ‘Nothing on the house raids yet.’ Paige had been texting him with the updates she’d learned from Joseph Carter. Now Clay knew that the knife used to slit Tuzak’s throat was the same knife Reggie had used on the courtroom deputy. He knew to look for a guy named Doug who’d sold the knife to George. And finally, he knew to pray because by now Carter and a SWAT team should be converging on a house in Timonium where Ford’s abductor might be hiding him. ‘You coming with me?’
    Alec’s eyes widened. ‘Me? I thought I was just the driver.’
    ‘I changed my mind,’ Clay said. The kid noticed things that other people didn’t. ‘Get your gear and follow me. And close your mouth before the birds fly in.’
    Clay’s knock was answered by Gargano. Who immediately